Donington Park Sat/Sun 4/5 October 2014
As you can see from the programme cover, the organisers at Donington this particular weekend were the 750 Motor Club. Now based at the circuit, this was the final round of the majority of the clubs championships and a very busy timetable saw 24 races scheduled across the 2 days.
Saturday saw a rare event for 2014...Rain! For once the weather forecast was spot on as the morning qualifying + 3 races before the lunch break took place on a wet track before brightening up considerably in the afternoon. Usually a wet track leads to incidents aplenty and delays but thankfully the morning's activities ran fairly smoothly and with the sun out a good afternoon was in prospect......
However things started to unravel after lunch with the 45 minute Roadsports race starting late for some reason and by the time the next race for Formula Vee started we were 25 minutes behind schedule already. What you don't want when running late is a big shunt/red flag/cars needing to be recovered/drivers needing to be taken to hospital. However the first lap of the Classic Stock Hatches saw this scenario though after contact at Redgate/Hollywood. A reduced in time re-run took place and then we waited and waited and waited..... For the first time in my experience of spectating at a Circuit, there were no ambulances on duty as both had gone to hospital and a 90 + minute delay ensued before they returned and racing could recommence. I don't know the full facts but on a weekend where there were enormous entries in nearly all the races, incidents are bound to happen and to have only 2 ambulances present seemed to be the wrong amount.
The 4 remaining races on Saturday finally resumed at 5.50pm and inevitably the final race of the day for Locosts managed just 2 laps before darkness and a shunt at McLeans/Coppice meant a red flag.
Thankfully Sunday dawned bright and sunny to improve The Spectator's mood and on paper this looked to be a fantastic days racing with 14 races, big grids and some of the "lively" 750 championships on show to provide the action. Sometimes what looks good on paper doesn't turn out that way but this was a very good days racing and easily the most entertaining car meeting I'd seen all year.
Highlights were an epic scrap for the lead in the Formula Vee race where, in the early laps, 10 cars vied for the position before Martin Farmer won out. Both 5Club Mazda MX5 races were hugely entertaining with every driver in the 34 car field giving their all and a variety of lines and braking points were on offer at the Old Hairpin lap after lap! The 750MC have provided a home for the old TOCA package Renault Clio 182 design and after having only 1 car at the beginning of 2013 a healthy 22 cars were at Donington. Indeed the final rounds saw many championships provide their biggest grids of the season which bodes well for 2015.
The obligatory Classic Stock Hatch carnage happened with another big shunt between McLeans and Coppice and the opening lap and another driver taken to hospital. The club had the foresight to declare an early lunch though and all 14 races were completed at 5.40pm.
All in all a good weekend's motor racing and Sunday certainly made up for the delay on Saturday afternoon. Admission was the usual £10 with £5 DPRAC discount both days and the programme was £3. The club have now increased the size of the programme to the large format A5 but still don't provide anywhere on the page to write results and grids in! The more things change the more they stay the same.....
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